20 years of Sir Alex
Alex Ferguson has to go down in history as probably the greatest manager British football has known. His long list of achievements is well known.
He enjoyed his first success as a manager with St Mirren (1974–78), taking the club from the Scottish second division to the Premier Division.
1980 Scottish Premier League - Winner
1982 Scottish League Cup - Winner
1982 Scottish F.A. Cup - Winner
1983 Scottish F.A. Cup - Winner
1983 European Cup Winners Cup - Winner
1984 Scottish F.A. Cup - Winner
1984 Scottish Premier League - Winner
1985 Scottish Premier League - Winner
1986 Scottish FA Cup - Winner
1990 F.A. Cup - Winner
1991 European Cup Winners Cup - Winner
1991 European Super Cup - Winner
1992 League Cup - Winner
1993 F.A. Premier League - Winner
1994 F.A. Premier League - Winner
1994 F.A. Cup - Winner
1996 F.A. Premier League - Winner
1996 F.A. Cup - Winner
1997 F.A. Premier League - Winner
1999 F.A. Premier League - Winner
1999 F.A. Cup - Winner
1999 European Champions League - Winner
1999 Intercontinental Cup - Winner
2000 F.A. Premier League - Winner
2001 F.A. Premier League - Winner
2003 F.A. Premier League - Winner
2004 F.A. Cup – Winner
2006 Carling cup - Winner
However to understand how great these achievements really are we need to examine his career in greater detail. He has succeeded at every level of football from the lower leagues of Scottish football to taking on the Scottish giants and succeeding, then he moved South and took United to the title for the first time in 26 years and to dominate English football for a decade or more. Not only has this meant he has had to get the best out of players at virtually every professional level he has done it over a time in World football where he would have had to change his style and knowledge considerably.
The modern day professional is a multi millionaire before many are out of their teens, when Fergie managed the player daren’t cross the line as he would lose his place in the side and win bonuses meant a lot and not to just the lower level pros. In the 70s and 80s professional players who didn’t find work in the game often struggled to make a decent living, therefore motivation wasn’t as telling a factor as it has become today. Furthermore the game has changed so much, the top sides for many seasons only had to concern themselves with first team players and a couple of backups, but today great teams aren’t enough squad and squad rotation is critical, managing players who have to be left out is a skill in it’s own right as is buying these players and explaining the situation. And of course football teams have changed so much in their make up for the majority of his career all he would have needed to know was Scottish footballers and then football changed. Managers today need to have an understanding of players from all over the world and of course a scouting network to match. How much easier must it have been when all you needed to judge was the best of British available? Then of course there is managing multi national players, rarely have we seen Fergie have problems that other managers have.
The list goes of the training methods, systems, diet etc these have changed radically in Fergies years of management and he has had to keep on top of these changes. Managers such as Paisley Clough Shankly who are true greats in their own right cannot compare to the numerous variables Fergie has had to contend with. Busby a brilliant manager never had to manage at all the different levels or adopt to the modern game. And we all know how unlucky he was with the great Munich side but still Busby only managed half of Fergies trophies at United alone.
Moreover Fergie had to contend with the problems of history and United’s glamour when he came to United. The glamour meant teams lifted their game when they played against us while the combination of history and glamour meant many big time players couldn’t cope with the OT stage Birtles Davenport Brazil et al. When Fergie has built great teams he has built them to last and not for the odd season or two. He had little money at any of his clubs in Scotland but at United he was given funds, although to understand his position you have to understand that much of Fergie’s money has been created by his success which created the wealth.